United Nations to End political mission in Iraq by 2025
United Nations to End political mission in Iraq by 2025
At Baghdad’s request, the United Nations Security Council decided unanimously on Friday to end the UN political mission in Iraq by the end of 2025, more than 20 years after it began.
In a letter to the council earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani urged that the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) be closed.
Recalling UNAMI’s triumph over “great and varied challenges,” Al-Sudani announced that “the grounds for having a political mission in Iraq” were no longer legitimate.
The UNSC resolution that was adopted on Friday extended the mission’s mandate for “a final 19-month period until 31 December 2025 after which UNAMI will cease all work and operations.”
In 2003, when Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the US-led invasion, the Iraqi government asked that the mission be established by a resolution passed by the UN Security Council.
It advises the government on political dialogue and reconciliation and helps with election and security sector reform.
The secretary-general’s strategy assessment was overseen by German diplomat Volker Perthes, at the request of the Council during the mission’s previous renewal in May 2023.
Perthes hinted at the possibility of ending the mission in a report published in March, stating that “the two-year period identified by the government for the mission’s drawdown can be a sufficient time frame to make further progress.”
Furthermore, the duration will enable the guarantee of “won’t threaten peace and security or lead to a reversal of democratic gains” to apprehensive Iraqis. in his opinion.
Taking into account that UN operations may only occur with the approval of the host nation, this month Russia, China, Britain, and France expressed support for a shift in Iraq’s relationship with the UN.
Without addressing Baghdad’s request, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that UNAMI still had “important work to do,” providing a more evasive answer from the US.
Despite Iraq’s call for the mission to focus more on economic issues, she emphasized the mission’s obligation to organize elections and promote human rights.
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